


Bitten

by RoseFrederick



Category: Firefly
Genre: Buffyverse Vampire Mythos, F/M, Mostly Gen, Post-Series AU, Slight Canon Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-10
Updated: 2013-07-24
Packaged: 2017-12-18 08:36:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/877818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseFrederick/pseuds/RoseFrederick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The crew of <em>Serenity</em> thought that Reavers were the only monsters in the dark inhabiting their 'Verse.  They're about to find out just how wrong they were.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It Doesn't Have to be After Sundown

_Serenity_ was spending nearly a week set down on Greenleaf. Considering the higher than average Alliance presence there, it wasn't exactly one of Mal's favorite spots to be stuck sitting a spell. Whether he liked it or not, however, Kaylee had insisted they had to put down someplace with a decent amount of junkyards and parts stores. Now sometimes Mal didn’t figure his engineer really understood that keepin' her in repair wasn't quite the same as fixing everything up as shiny as possible – and that most times they simply couldn't afford the latter. Still, after that incident with the catalyzer blowing and nearly killin' them all, Mal had realized he'd better pay more attention to the naggings of Kaylee. In regards to engine parts, leastaways. Weren't no way she was ever talkin' him into a ship pet or some of the other notions that got stuck in her optimistic little head.

When the question of somewhat new entry couplings and Ardonner stabilizers had come out of her mouth, the crew had just been on their way back from a drop on Jianyin. That had left Greenleaf as the closest likely port with what she wanted, and he did know a few contacts there which might have something legitimate-like that didn't require going through any checkpoints as would endanger the Tams. Unfortunately, he'd been finding his choices of jobs limited by that factor more and more as of late. Still, they weren't on the verge of starvin' over it yet, and he hoped they wouldn't get there. He didn't rightly know what he'd do if'n it came to that.

Despite her declarations, Inara hadn't gotten herself off elsewhere at New Melbourne, and still hadn't mentioned to the rest of the crew she planned on leaving soon. If she still did. He tried not to think on it much. A small, traitorous part of his brain insisted on thinkin' he could perhaps convince her to stay. Despite the moon-brain notions, the rest of him knew better – still couldn’t figure why she'd decided to ship out with them in the first place, it had only been a matter of time before she left. Weren't nothing on this broken down ol' boat worth having for a woman like her. The sooner she got herself gone and his traitorous brain acknowledged that truth, the better.

Speaking of Inara, the Companion had flown off as soon as they'd hit atmo, seeing as how she'd told little Kaylee she was booked up solid for the whole gorram week. Jayne had barely waited for the ramp to come down before he was off in his Sunday-best shirt for the nearest whorehouse. Preacher had gone to visit the local abbey, and the married folk were off on a retreat of some kind or t'other. He hadn't listened much to the particulars. Wash had a deeply unsettling habit of waxing lyrical about Zoe in a manner Mal just weren't comfortable thinking about, so he'd gotten into the habit of tuning out his pilot when the man got that certain look on his face.

Which meant that the ship was all but empty, 'cept for her Captain, the Tams, and Kaylee. Considering the cheery mechanic was half the time back and forth to junkyards and the other half all but disappeared under the engine, it was more like the three of them. No lie that made things more than a mite uncomfortable. He'd taken the kids in, but he was more like to punch the prissy doc again than have a decent conversation with him, and River, as much as he liked the girl, was more than a bit unsettling even on her best days.

It left Mal with an itch to be off doing something someplace that was elsewhere. He didn't generally spend much time off ship, aside from jobs the crew were pulling. First off because he didn't ever like to set down longer than they had to, inviting government nose-poking types as it did. Second on account of the fact near all his personal coin went back into keeping Serenity flying as best as they could afford, and most anything he'd be like to do off-ship would eat into those funds.

Still. Weren't nothing for him to do on the ship right now but think too much, and that was a thing he had done his very best to not do ever since Serenity Valley had made it such a dark and tricky proposition. Therefore, after the fifth time he nearly knocked into one of the Tams pacing the corridors of his ship, Mal reigned in his irritation as best as he was able and declared he was heading out.

The job on Jianyin had paid well enough he could afford a couple drinks at a watering hole, iffin' he wasn't too particular about the atmosphere of the place or the quality of the liquor. It only took a walk of a few minutes from where the ship was docked to find himself such a place. 

It was everything he expected of a bar this close to the docks. Dingy, dimly-lit, and filled with rough-looking types, a great deal of whom made Jayne look like a paragon of hygiene and manners. It was, however, the kind of place where people minded their own business. Outside of U-day when he had his own memorial celebration (of a kind), that was exactly how he liked things.

The drinks weren't much more tasteful than Kaylee's engine brew, but after he'd had a couple, he didn't so much care. Of course, just like stalking the corridors of the ship, drinking alone was also the kind of thing that lead to too much thinking. He did his best to avoid that by staring into the bottom of his glass and eavesdropping with vague interest in the conversations going on around him. 

It was several drinks later, enough that he'd lost count of how many he'd had but not so many that he'd run out of the money he'd brought along for drinking, when someone impinged on his solitude. When another patron nudged into his side, he rather expected it to be some tough working up to trying to start a fight. 

Mal definitely appreciated a good bar brawl, but he did generally try to keep from getting into them without backup. Plenty good reason for that - he would get all kinds of crap from Zoe afterward. Woman wouldn't _say_ anything, but Zoe didn't have to talk to show her disapproval. So he put on a neutral face rather than one of his aggravating smirks and expected to attempt to diffuse a confrontation – not that he expected to succeed, as it weren't exactly something he had any particular talent at - but at least he could say he _tried_. 

Considering the factor of his inebriation, it took him more than a moment to adjust his brain to the sight that was meeting his eyes instead. It wasn't a fella build on the same kinda model as Jayne, but rather a petite little thing of a gal. Not the kind kitted out in a bunch of knives and guns to compensate for it neither. Certainly not the type he expected to be hanging out in a place like this. She smiled at him in a sultry kinda way.

It took him a couple more minutes and a couple of tries on her part for him to catch on that she was introducin' herself. He was polite, but a little bewildered. Life like his, there weren't no place in it for romance, even if the bit of blackrock in his chest passing for a heart wasn't all tied up in knots over Inara. Between his natural disposition and the fact they never stopped any particular place for long, he didn't usually have to spend much time turning gals down, so he was a little adrift as to how to go about doin' so without giving offense to begin with, and the liquor was making things complicated on top of that. 

Woman wasn't making it easy at all, either, refusing to take the hint. Considering he didn't want to hurt her feelings none, he was a bit at a loss. When she just couldn't seem to get it, after he'd tried ignoring her and then bein' irritating and crude in turn, he finally made some polite excuse about needing to head on back to his ship, and got up to leave the bar. She pouted a bit, but didn't fuss any further, for which he was grateful. He'd be wishin' her luck on finding some other fella who was actually interested if she hadn't been in what was definitely the wrong bar for that, as far as he was concerned. He'd asked if she'd come in off a ship, but she said she hadn't. It had been right odd. He'd also had the passing thought that it was weird her hands were so cold on such a warm night. Wasn't any of his concern, though. He'd surely never see her again.

Even though he'd had quite a bit to drink, Mal had lead far too interesting of a life to be completely unaware of his surroundings on the walk home. Wouldn't do to get mugged for the change in his pockets because some thug took him for an inattentive drunk. So he did hear that there was someone following him as he was just about to walk past the fence where the landing area was sectioned off from the town proper. Unfortunately, that didn't do him any good. His hand may have gone to his gun, but he hadn't intended to draw it, and his reflexes were only those of a human. _Serenity_ 's Captain died in an alley only a couple hundred feet away from his ship.

…

She'd been plenty busy working on getting things squared away on the engine, but Kaylee had still noticed that it was mighty quiet on _Serenity_ with most of the crew out and about. She did have to feel a little guilty about being happy that Simon and River couldn't leave the ship on a place like Greenleaf. It meant Simon kept coming in to talk t'her while she was workin' which was just shiny. Even if it was maybe only 'cause everyone else was gone.

The Cap'n did love the ship almost as much as she did, but the man didn't know nothin' about mechanicing, so he mostly just let her do her thing and only actively checked in on her progress every day or so. So she didn't think too much of it when he didn't drop by on their fifth day sitting on Greenleaf. When he didn't come out for dinner either, though, that was weird and worrisome enough she asked Simon if he'd seen the Captain around.

He said he hadn't. Simon added that he suspected Mal was possibly down in his bunk avoiding them, as he'd complained the day before that he was being bothered by him n' River. That weren't too weird, Simon and the Captain never did get along at the best of times and Mal did seem to aggravate the doc on purpose. She loved the man like her own _ge ge_ , but boy could he be ornery sometimes. To be fair, sometimes Simon tried even her patience, and she tried so hard not to get wrongfoot with anybody. So she was just about to figure that she was dithering over her imagination, when River felt the need to speak up, and what she did say was right spooky. “Gone.”

It wasn't so much the word as the tone. The girl was a sweetheart, but she could be fair uncanny sometimes. After she'd said the word, she just blinked a couple of times and acted like she hadn't even spoke. The weirdness of it was enough to prompt Kaylee to go knocking on the hatch to his bunk when the girl wouldn't say nothing more. There was not a peep of an answer, and her worry increased. Cap'n wouldn't be happy about having his privacy invaded, but if there were something wrong and he needed help – well, she had to check, didn't she?

Problem was he wasn't in his bunk, and the rest of _Serenity_ weren't real big either. Mal wasn't there. River didn't seem at all bothered by it, but then she also seemed to be having one of her more disconnected days. It was enough to worry both her and Simon, though. Mal tended to want everyone to know where to find him in case something went wrong, especially when they were planetside. Not to mention the rest of the crew would be due to check in soon to make sure everyone was set for leaving Greenleaf in a couple of days, and the Captain hadn't said anything about other business he had to take care of. Talking it over, the two of them realized that no one had seen Mal since he'd said something about going out for a drink the night before. If the Captain had got himself arrested for getting into a fight or some other kind of shenanigans like that, it could be problematical. 

Kaylee didn’t see much for it but they had to call Zoe. She hated to interrupt the special romantic week she and Wash had going on at the fanciest hotel they could afford, but neither she nor Simon had the know-how for discreetly figuring if Mal were in the local jail. She was okay with computer systems, but cracking into the legal systems, even just the local ones, it was far more easy to trip an alarm than just hacking comm channels or businesses. It was the kinda thing she generally left to Wash, since he'd had a friend was right clever with technology who taught him more than a few tricks. She and Simon were even less suited for any kind of rescue or bail out situation, if'n they did find where the Captain was, so there was that, too. 

Unfortunately, the happy couple weren't picking up their waves, so Kaylee left them a vague message that should be enough to let them know they needed to check in as soon as possible. She didn't know quite what else to do. The Captain was always looking out for all of them, and could certainly take care of himself. Still, if he was in some kinda trouble and they didn't do anything, Kaylee wouldn’t be able to live with herself. She didn't have a contact for Jayne, but she was even worried enough to try both Book and Inara, neither of whom had heard from the Cap'n and both of whom were immediately worried by her admitting he was missing. She hadn't said so right out, not wanting to worry them, as she figured neither was any more set to deal with the problem than she and Simon. They'd still both figured it out pretty quick, though. Prevaricatin' wasn't her strong point at all – far from – and there were few other reasons she'd be calling to ask if they'd heard from Mal. 

Short of getting Zoe or somebody back here to deal with it, Kaylee didn't really know what any of them could do. So she told the others to stay put, thinking maybe it would be better if they were were Mal expected them to be in case he tried to get in contact himself. She tried not to fret too hard after getting off the waves and went back to doing the last parts of the repairs she needed to get done afore they left planet. Captain would be right put out with her when he came back if that wasn't done yet! 

By the time it was night again, however, Kaylee had run out of things she could fiddle with while still fooling herself that she was legitimately working on something that needed it. Thankfully about the time she was ready to start getting really worried that they hadn't heard nothing more from the rest of the crew, she heard Zoe's voice shouting her name.

She ran out to meet her, and noticed that Simon was equally out of breath from rushing to the cargo bay at the sound. Zoe handed the holdall she was carrying to Wash, who took off up the stairs with it muttering something about wanting to stay another night. The luggage sorted, she turned to Kaylee and asked what the urgent message to get in contact was about. Zoe frowned slightly once Kaylee had got the story out, but she didn't say anything. She just nodded and headed up towards the bridge, with Kaylee and Simon tagging along behind her. 

Wash was just climbing up out of the couple's bunk as the three of them approached, and Zoe told him to get up to the bridge and hack into the local arrest bulletins.

“What, we had come come back because you figure Jayne got into trouble? Are we sure we want him back?” Then, when nobody so much as cracked a smile, he added, “What?”

“Captain's missing,” was all Zoe bothered to say.

For Wash it was only the work of a couple of minutes before he was declaring that there were no records for Mal (or any of the aliases he used on a regular basis) being jailed or even involved in any kind of disturbance. Zoe's frown deepened. “You check the corpses?”

Kaylee gasped, and Wash wasn't much less dismayed. “Are we thinking that? Isn't it a bit early to be thinking that?”

Zoe just gave her husband a no-nonsense look, and he put up his hands in surrender before turning back to the console. A few minutes more and he declared that no unidentified bodies that met Mal's description had turned up in any of the local morgues. Kaylee hadn't quite realized just how much Zoe had tensed up until she relaxed a bit at that announcement.

“So, uh, what are we thinking?” Simon asked.

“Ain't sure,” Zoe began. “Captain don't much like going off-ship for too long, but he mighta met up with somebody. That's the hopeful version. Mighta got took, instead.”

“And which of our many enemies do you suppose might have made off with our absent leader? I mean, we do have quite a list to be getting on with!” Wash interjected.

Before Zoe or anyone else could respond to that, the whole group of them heard Inara's shuttle docking. “Inara's early. She check in lately?” she asked. 

Kaylee shook her head negatively. “I did wave to ask if she'd heard from the Captain, but she said she was gonna stick to her schedule.” They met up with Inara in the kitchen area, heading towards each other.

“Trouble?” Zoe asked.

Inara looked somewhat taken aback by the abruptness of the query and the tension evident in all of them. “N-no, my last client just canceled and there weren't any other interesting prospects. Surely Mal isn't still off sulking somewhere?”

Down in the cargo bay, River was listening in, in a manner of speaking, as the group upstairs was going back over the little they knew. She only peripherally noticed the noise of the door in the bay hatch opening and closing. She spared a moment to look over and actually engage her physical senses for a moment.

“Worried about you. All talking about it,” she said absently, still mostly focused on the conversation upstairs. Her brother was protesting loudly against everyone's suggested lines of investigation. He was always so paranoid about the potentiality of the Alliance finding her because of something the crew did, the boob. 

“Is that so?” Mal's voice was laced with amusement.

River blinked, and drew her attention back from the conversation upstairs, focusing on the Captain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I, uh, kill Mal off a lot. Not sure why beyond, you know, it's fun. This is story is completed and previously posted at FF.net and will be uploaded here (likely) every other day until complete at 5 chapters. Feedback welcome.


	2. It Doesn't Always End with Death

“They all upstairs?” Mal asked, sauntering closer. 

River nodded. She'd been laying across a group of crates piled off to one side in the bay. With her focus shifting back to the physical world, she swiveled to sit up, turning in the Captain's direction. The girl started swinging her legs back and forth, kicking her bare feet against the boxes and enjoying the physicality of the reverberation in her heels. She focused on Mal, looking intently at him and tilting her head to one side, listening. 

“Hear anything interesting?” He asked, with an exaggeratedly serious face.

“Empty spaces. Quiet,” it came out sounding like the half-question it was.

“Well, ain't that somethin'? You callin' me stupid, little one?” He smiled, and River was a little disturbed. She couldn't say what it was exactly, but there was definitely something off about the expression. Then again, none of her senses were entirely reliable anymore, so she was never sure whether to trust them or not. Sometimes she couldn’t help reacting to what they told her, and sometimes she was paralyzed by inaction, unable to know what was really happening in the world around her and what was only in her head. 

“Not stupid. Blank slate, can't hear you,” her brow wrinkled, perplexed by this development. She didn't hear everyone's thoughts all the time, but usually when she focused on someone she could immediately hear something, often more than she wanted. Now, however, it was like the Captain wasn't even there. 

“Well, good then! I know ain't none of us as brilliant as Simon says you are, but wouldn't be right for you to rub it in any. Thing is, I got a plan I can't pull off myself. After the way you handled ol' Early, figure you're the right accomplice for the job. Interested?”

“Simon won't like it,” River warned.

“Yeah, well, I figured that. We just won't tell Simon until it's his turn.”

She was bewildered by the fact she still wasn't hearing any thoughts from Mal, but not really worried, even when between one blink and another the Captain moved to grab her. She'd seen the inside of the Captain's mind enough to be sure he wouldn't hurt her, so she didn't even really start to struggle until she registered that he'd clamped a hand over her mouth. At that point she began to try and get away in earnest, but it didn't help. River cried out as there was a sharp pain in her neck, but by that time he'd drug her back towards the passenger quarters and her mouth was muffled. There was no one closer than the galley, and there was no way anyone upstairs would have heard.

…

“River says y'all have been makin' an undue fuss over me.”

The room turned to look at him almost as one. None of them had noticed him coming into the doorway of the kitchen, in the midst of argument as they were. Predictably, the doc piped up with, “River said? Where is ...”

Mal waved Simon down, rolling his eyes. “She was listening in from the cargo bay, said the lot of you were making one heck of a noise in her noggin – least that's what I think she said,” he looked perplexed for a moment before moving on, “said she was goin' to lay down for a bit. Specifically said to tell you not to fuss, doctor. As hopeless as it is to think you might follow that suggestion.”

Simon huffed in annoyance, but he did sit back down. Mal walked further into the room, looking them all over. “Inara! You're back early, business not go as well as you hoped?” He added, sounding jovial. 

The Companion muttered something under her breath and then said with overly-saccharine sweetness, “My business is still none of yours. Perhaps you'll tell us what business you had that was so important you couldn't tell any of us about it?”

Mal smirked at her and made a show of looking around at the rest of them, while completely ignoring Inara's question. “Just warms my heart to see you so concerned about your Captain's well-being. Only Jayne and the Shepherd still out then?” Without waiting for an answer, he clapped his hands together once in enthusiasm, and turned to the mechanic. “You got those repairs done, Kaylee? I am just about ready to be off this rock.”

“Where have you been, sir?” Zoe cut across any answer the mechanic was likely to make beyond the nod she'd already given. Apparently the Captain's current lack of an answer on top of the stress of the earlier disappearance had finally caused her to reach the very end of her normally formidable patience. 

“What? I decided to take in the sights for once, is that so wrong?” The false innocence in the tone wouldn't have fooled any of them even if they didn't know him as well as they did. 

“Sir.” Zoe added, her tone clearly conveying her disapproval.

“Now, look here! I don't ask you any about your shore-side ventures – as much as your husband tries to tell anybody'll stand still long enough. I don't figure you need to be pryin' into mine, _dong ma_? Ain't like to affect things for us on this ship any.”

Zoe looked dubious, and the rest of the crew undeniably curious, but Mal refused to tell them anything else about where he'd been no matter how many times they tried in different ways. Although no one commented on it, a couple of the crew thought it was a little strange that Mal didn't get annoyed they kept asking. As a matter of fact, Mal's attitude was unusually jovial. No one wanted to comment on it though, figuring that might be the very thing to actually spoil it. 

They had their evening meal together, and as they were all getting ready to disperse, Mal sent Simon down to recheck the infirmary's stock, telling the doc he'd fallen into some extra money for supplies. If Simon thought it was at all weird that Mal kept passing by the infirmary and asking questions about things that kept him busy for hours, he didn't say anything. As it was, by the time Mal finally stopped pestering him, he only barely looked in on his sister all tucked up in bed before turning in himself. 

Simon's earlier worry that Mal had gotten himself caught by someone who would come looking for the ship and find his sister had made the day a long and stressful one. Because of that, Simon was deeply asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. He didn't wake up when the door to his room slid open quietly and his sister floated in lightly on her bare feet. River came to a stop standing directly over his bed, staring down at her brother. She reached out a hand almost touching the planes of his face, but not quite making actual contact. 

“Simon,” she whispered, and then again a little louder. Behind her, the Captain entered the room and slid the door shut before moving a few steps to the side to lean casually up against the wall, crossing his arms, with his eyes intent on watching River's actions. 

“Waa, River? River, what's wrong?” Simon said, groggily. 

River smiled at him, and gave in to the impulse to actually touch his face. “Nothing. Don't worry, Simon.”

Simon sat up a bit, blinking and then rubbing at his eyes. “You woke me up to tell me not to worry? Why are your hands so cold?”

River giggled. “No, silly!” Then she turned abruptly serious. “Have to be quiet, Simon. Shhh.”

“I -” he recoiled as River lunged at him, but it did him no good. “Ow!”

“Keep him quiet,” Mal said in a forceful undertone, for the first time drawing Simon's attention to the Captain's presence. The doctor flailed a bit, half wanting the Captain to help with his crazier-than-usual sister, and half from the pain of what River was doing. Was she biting him? His thoughts were still too confused to organize much of a protest, and it wasn't much longer before he didn't even have the strength for it.

When she was finished with him, River lay her brother back down gently. “Won't wake by morning,” she said.

“Can't think it'll be too late in the day,” Mal responded thoughtfully. “I'll just mention you're having one of your peculiar spells and Simon is busy takin' care of it. I figure it should keep most of 'em off for long enough, 'specially if you do enough hollerin' they don't want to investigate too close.” 

“Better than most of your plans,” River responded, somewhat dubiously.

“Hey now! I am still your Captain, girly. At least pretend to have a little respect.”

River rolled her eyes and gave him a mocking little half-salute, before her expression came over thoughtful instead. “Amount of blood to sustain our new condition is unknown. Insufficient data available about presumed myths. Entire crew will probably need excessive quantities to prepare for interplanetary travel. Jayne eats too much. Must we turn him?”

“Nobody gets left, unless we can't help it. You know that.”

She made another face, but didn't say anything else.

…

It was a disorienting experience, waking up after dying. Mal had figured that out hisownself just recent-like, so he kept an ear out for signs of stirring from Simon's room as the rest of the crew started to move about in the new day. He'd managed to bribe Kaylee with a little extra allowance for parts to hopefully keep her from even thinkin' on the doc any during this crucial time. The gal who had turned him had quite a stash of coin tucked away, which was coming in right handy now. She'd gotten lonely and figured on makin' herself a playmate nobody'd miss – which was why she'd been trawling the bars down by the spaceport.

It was to her detriment that she hadn't realized how contrary Mal was by nature when he brushed off her obvious come ons at the bar. She'd figured on her experience and the bond between a sire and a childe being enough to keep him in line. However, between his personal decision to never take orders from nobody again and his attachment to his ship and crew, which she'd told him to forget about, he'd staked her first chance she let her vigilance waver enough. Despite what he'd told little River, that was just the reason he had his own doubts about makin' Jayne one of them, too. The big merc weren't exactly reliable as a human-type man. There'd be time enough later to figure on that, though, as Jayne'd be last after the others were equipped to keep him in line.

When he'd first realized that woman had figured to keep him as some kind of minion-y pet, even before he'd staked her proper, he'd been thinking about what he did want to do with his shiny new unlife. The guilt he'd always felt on account of survivin' when near everyone else in Serenity Valley and on Shadow had died was suddenly gone along with the regular need to breathe. It had been freeing in a lot of ways. Some things hadn't much changed, though. He still figured his place to be on _Serenity_ and to keep her running as she should be, he'd need his crew. That wouldn't work out too well, they got out in the black and he got too hungry. Beyond which, they'd have an advantage over the people they dealt with, were he to just go ahead and turn 'em now.

Might have planned things a bit differently if he'd realized up front River's uncanny abilities wouldn't give him away. He'd known that they were unreliable most days, but to realize she couldn't read his brainpan at all? Ah well. Mighta made the girl suspicious anyhow soon enough, and she'd been conveniently alone when he came back. And if River had to be first, Simon had to be next. Top three percent was gonna notice his sister didn't have no heartbeat. Besides which, they needed to stock up on plasma and that was purely Simon's department of expertise. He'd need to consult with the medic on those kinds of supplies.

It had occurred to him to round up some humans to take along for food instead, but the logistics didn't add up right. Sure'n there were drifters about and whatnot, but whatserface had already made that mistake, thinkin' she could take off with him. Even if he hadn't turned up, he had no doubt Zoe would have come looking, trailing the rest of the crew. You just never knew what attachments a body might have. Plus, humans along, they'd have to feed 'em and listen to 'em whine. Any managing to escape and speak on what they were or the location of the Tams, well, that didn't even bear thinking on. He'd broke into Simon's medical stocks of blood, and it weren't no worse than eating bland protein all the time, and seemed to be working okay to keep him from tearin' out the crew's throats for the pure joy of it, no matter how tempting the notion. Of course, it hadn't been that long yet. 

That had been the other big hurdle he'd seen as a potential problem, having to start off with River. Girl could be called a lot of things, but predictable weren't never one of 'em. He'd tied her up plenty secure before she'd woken up, but it hadn't turned out necessary after all. Perhaps it wasn't so strange this new way of being which had made everything in his world seem so much clearer had a similar effect on the girl. Afore now, he'd have pondered long and hard on the unlikelihood of his luck allowing such a turn, but this was a new day. He saw there was no point to that nonsense now.

While he was waiting on Simon, he had Wash running a few tests up on the bridge and Zoe off-ship, seeing if she couldn’t scrounge up Jayne from whatever cesspit he'd found to wallow in for the duration of their stop. With Kaylee already tied up with the engine, that left less chance of someone looking for the doctor and making things purely awkward. Wouldn't do for them to find him dead, or worse, revived and too hungry not to kill right off.

He finally sensed some movement out of the doctor's cabin after a few more hours of waiting patiently as he could manage. So it was that he woke Simon up completely by hitting him in the midsection with a couple of full packs of blood from the infirmary. Mal wasn't remotely surprised when the doc whined about it. 

“We're keeping the whole crew and I can't trust you not to screw up and kill somebody instead right now, Simon. It ain't particularly tasty, but you should be used to that by now livin' with us on the raggedy edge this long.”

Boy grumbled a bit more before tearing into the packets greedily. When he was done, he just looked up from the bed where he was sitting, still half-dressed from the night before. River'd been careful to mop the blood off his neck, so aside from the pale he looked much the same as ever. Which was a reassuring thing to a fella who could no longer use mirrors for hisownself. 

“We're vampires? Drink blood, undead, allergic to sunlight, garlic, and stakes-to-the-heart vampires? This - this is ludicrous!”

“Now, now, doc. Keep your voice down. Ain't but the three of us yet, and while I got the crew doing busywork, we don't want to take chances.”

The doctor glared at him a bit and stood up, almost looking like he was thinking on making some kind of challenge – which was not exactly unexpected, so far as Mal was concerned. All this time on the rim and the doc still hadn't figured out which fights he was guaranteed to lose. Perhaps Simon might have gone ahead and started one, but just then River's voice carried into the room from behind where Mal was standing in the doorway, “Don't be a boob, Simon. This is shiny.”

“Forgive me for thinking I might miss the sun a little, _mei mei_ ,” Simon responded in a much warmer voice.

“Uh, yeah. Point of fact on that, doc. Apparently it was just the sun of Earth-that-Was like to cause our kind to burst into flame. The garlic thing ain't true, neither. You might wanna stay away from pointy wood, religious symbols, and decapitation hazards, sure enough though.”

“But … that ... why? _How_?” Simon spluttered.

“Can't run this boat on my own, and couldn't risk your sis outing me when I came back different. And the two of you do come as a package deal, I recall.”

“That is not what I … can we at least kill Jayne?”

“River already asked,” Mal replied, seeing the amusement in the siblings sharing that same thought. River shook her head mournfully when her brother turned his attention to her. Simon sighed in disappointment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: About River being easily overcome, three things. Her abilities are very much hit and miss - even at the end of the movie she's having helpless fits in the face of danger. Second, science still definitively has limits in terms of strength/strain on the body, the supernatural doesn't necessarily. Third, Earshot – psychics are to vampires as mirrors are to vampires. Considering the treatment she sometimes gets in fan works, I imagine some people won't like what I've done here, but those are my reasons. In a similar vein (ouch!), canon vampires' rise times are pretty much plot convenient, and _Serenity_ is somewhere between private home/public business as well as being owned by Mal, whereby I'm excusing the threshold issue.


	3. It Doesn't Always Go Awry

He kept a weather eye on Simon when the three of them headed back into the main part of the ship where the rest of the crew was. As much as the doctor always seemed to argue with his Captain's every decision, once the first few hours passed okay, Mal figured Simon would go along with his plan. As soon as he had the rest of the plan clear, at least.

Jayne remained a big hulking question mark, so that was a problem to be put off 'til everybody else was settled. He'd always be a danger of turning on them all, and the big man was superstitious as anything to boot. He weren't too safe to keep around as either human or vampire, no matter which way you came at it. Still, the man was crew, and damn useful at intimidating the folk they dealt with. That was the whole reason they put up with the big ape in the first place. It was a tangly knot of uncertainty, to be sure.

The Companion was an issue, too. Beyond her job putting her too close with all kinds of untrustworthy strangers and yearly medical exams, she'd been plannin' on leaving anyhow. No reason to assume that would change, after. Worse, woman might be awful vexated at him and the rest for putting her career in jeopardy and he didn't rightly trust her reaction. Then again, for all her bold declarations, she still hadn't made any efforts he knew of to actually leave, so short of kicking her and her stuff off at the docks before they took off – a few hours in port, he'd trust the whole crew. Days and weeks out in the black, weren't at all likely they could keep the change secret nor keep someone from bein' tempted by the fresh blood. Didn’t much care one way or t'other, except for he knew the Guild kept close tabs on their Companions. Inara went missing, they'd more than likely come looking for _Serenity_ if'n she wasn't known to have disembarked.

Considering his mysterious past, Book was also a subject to be wondered on. A fella who kept around holy relics and was the most likely of anybody he knew to perhaps already know about the whole vampire business could certainly be a problem. They could just kill the three of 'em, once they got out in the black. It was probably the most sensible option. A good part of him wouldn't really care, would in fact enjoy it more than a bit to kill the extras. Thinking back on the way the sweet little thing his sire had tied up for him to eat on wakin' had screamed gave him all kinds of happy tingles. Still, there was a niggling sense that they could be useful and that it would set a bad precedent, they started off with killing crew.

He had never been inclined to letting others make decisions on his ship, but perhaps in this case it wouldn’t hurt to get the rest of the crew's read on what to do 'bout those troublesome others. Didn't mean he'd follow their notions any, but it might not hurt to get a feel for where they stood. In the meantime, it was probably just as well Jayne and Book were still off-ship. Inara might be a problem, but hopefully with the three of them and the other three of the crew to turn things would go simple enough. Although the fact he couldn't order Inara around like the others was purely irksome. They could just stow Zoe and Wash in their bunk without anybody likely to find it suspicious, but the woman might go lookin' for some girl-type chatter with Kaylee.

Mal let the whole day pass, through the crew takin' dinner together. Was a good thing their kind could eat, though it felt like a pure waste to do so, as there weren't no nutritional value in it for 'em and the tasteless protein _go se_ they generally had registered as even less interesting on his tongue now. Afterward, he assigned Wash to the bridge to do some figuring on their course for takeoff, much to Zoe's annoyance, and went to confer with the Tams.

He didn't much like the idea of leaving anything up to Simon, but the boy would start something they couldn't easily explain to the rest of the crew and might tip 'em off something was different, if he didn't let him have his turn. Weren't no surprise, either, the boy wanted to sink fangs into little Kaylee. He'd figured after all their years together he'd owed it to turn Zoe hisownself, and he trusted River well enough to handle the pilot. While Kaylee might potentially be left 'til later, Zoe and Wash had to go together, or there'd be undue fuss. As it was, with as little time left as they had before their intended departure window, they'd have to do 'em all roughly the same time. The one thing he was dead sure of was not having anyone they couldn't stand to lose still human when they took to the air.

Right on about now was the best time to get it done, too. That way everybody'd be up and about by tomorrow afternoon when they were scheduled to leave Greenleaf. Mal went over his admonitions about turning to the two Tams again until they were both on the verge of rolling their eyes at him, before giving it up and hoping nothing went wrong. He'd managed to convince Simon without too much challenge to explain to him where to go in town that afternoon and stock up on blood supply. Greenleaf was a good place for it – Mal didn’t know much about the tech involved, but more advanced settlements like this, they had access to large cheap stocks of the lab-produced plasma that Simon usually kept in the infirmary. Such things would be harder to come by and more expensive on top of it from the less civilized worlds.

Inara was still wandering the boat now and then, which was a bit of a problem. She kept mostly to her shuttle lately, quite a bit moreso than before she said she was leavin'. With his luck, the contrary woman would pick today to want to socialize, though. On top of that, Jayne and the preacher might be returning at any time, and it wouldn't do to have them walking in on something they shouldn't see. Wasn't a problem for River and Simon so much, as the two of them had targets already in isolated parts of the ship. Zoe was a bit different. They might know each other better'n anyone else in the spinning verse, but they didn't make it a habit to invade one another's private spaces more often than could be helped. 

Still, wasn't much of a choice in it. Though she didn't say anything beyond a particularly articulate arch of an eyebrow, Mal could tell she was suspicious when he asked her to talk some things over in private and moved towards his bunk. Zoe might have found it downright odd, but she trusted him and followed along with the idea easy enough. Woman wasn't even armed, walking about the ship not expecting trouble. Weren't so manly to admit it, but he'd always been fair sure Zoe could kick his ass any time she pleased. So being able to keep her pinned from effectively fighting back with barely more than a thought was funner than anything. Not so much for her, o' course. 

As a matter of fact, the smell of fear on Zoe was so intoxicating he damn near forgot to stop feeding soon enough to change her. Was closer than he would have liked, but he managed to pull back soon enough and get her to drink. The process complete, he put her down on his bunk for the moment and went up to the hallway above and check the status with the process on the bridge with the pilot and River. He was worried how he was gonna figure things without takin' the chance of being a distraction at the wrong moment, but it didn't turn out to be a thing of consequence.

Door to the bridge was already open and no one was in there. His questions were answered as he was coming back down the stairs, wondering what had happened, and the hatch to the married couple's bunk popped open. River's head emerged from below first, followed by the rest of her.

“Everything shiny?” He asked the girl.

She cocked her head to the side, “No particular sheen visible. The age of components and insufficient scrubbing during regular maintenance would be unable to result in a refractive degree of polish. The plan went fine.”

“Uh, good then. Good.” He nodded. He hooked a thumb back over his shoulder, “I'll just go get Zoe then.”

As planned, he hefted the limp shell of Zoe over his shoulder and hauled her out of his bunk and down into her own. River had already tied up Wash to make sure he didn't cause trouble when waking and had helpfully left restraints for him to use on Zoe. He made efficient work of tying her up. He hadn't bothered to do any such thing with Simon because he'd figured he could rightly handle anything the doc could manage to do. Zoe was a whole different animal and doing the three of them at once added its own dangers.

He'd gotten as much information out of the gal who'd turned him as he could manage in the limited time he had. One of the things she mentioned was that the change affected everyone differently. Some rose almost exactly as they had been before. Others, suddenly freed of the restrictions of humanity, such as guilt and the like, came out entirely different. Usually more assertive and often more vicious. She'd had to explain that much because she'd tied him up, too, and he'd asked what that was all about. Mal didn't much like the idea that any of the crew might turn like that and have to be put down, but it was a possibility had to be given due consideration. Especially when their current plan was to turn three at the same time. Any one of 'em got ideas 'bout not following orders anymore, let alone two of 'em colluded about it – well, it'd be right problematical.

So precautions had to be taken, yet they also had to keep their eyes out for the return of Book and Jayne, as well as any curiosity prompting Inara to wander the ship. They were comin' up real fast on their set time for leaving the planet now. It did work in their favor that it was getting into the later hours of the evening, so if anyone did come lookin' it wouldn’t be too strange not to find many of the crew about. It didn't really help none that it wasn't possible to exactly predict how long it would take to rise again. Hopefully none of 'em would take so long into the afternoon that it'd put their departure time off. 

In a place like Greenleaf, you had to follow a set procedure and arrange a window on the schedule for departure. If they missed the one they'd already reserved, it would take a while to get another, seeing as the officious types in charge usually placed a time or monetary penalty on such deviations. Of course, right at the moment, they could afford it - but not in a way he could explain to the parts of the crew he wasn't sure of changing yet.

Didn't take too much longer past when he got the married couple settled that Simon rejoined them. The doc said there hadn't been any troubles with Kaylee neither, and the soundproofing on the bunks had meant there wasn't any worry about her screaming disturbing anyone who might have come looking. Now all that was left to do was wait. 

Jayne came wandering back home in pretty much the middle of the ship's night cycle, drunk and friendly as anything. The preacher returned early the next morning. The three of them were doing their best to keep an unobtrusive watch over their projects, though Wash still managed to wake up and get almost halfway out of his restraints before they noticed he'd woken up. 

He stopped struggling when Mal came down the ladder into the bunk though, playing innocent. “Look who's awake,” the Captain said.

“Zoe's dead.” Shouldn't be a surprise that was the first concern of the pilot.

“No more'n the rest of us. She's just bein' abnormally lazy today, looks like.”

“Let me guess! _You_ bit my wife, like River did to me. Because you and Zoe! Zoe and you! Always together,” he snarled. “I'm surprised you even bothered with me! Also, vampires with the sucking blood and the evil? _Seriously?_ This is even crazier than psychics, and I thought we'd reached our quota on weird!”

Mal rolled his eyes and ignored the last part of the pilot's theatrics altogether. “Suppose it was too much to ask that dying would clear you of those notions about us. As much as I don't remotely understand it, Zoe married you. That ain't got nothing to do with who Zoe and I are to one another. Course, you ain't willing to take orders from me with this change in circumstance, maybe I shouldn'ta bothered.”

Wash didn't address what he said at all, which Mal did not much like. “When is she gonna wake up?”

“Dunno. Seems to vary more'n a little.”

“Am I gonna get untied anytime soon, or did you turn another pilot to fly your ship?”

“Gotta admit I'm wondering if I should. Had a pretty clear warning that anybody might turn on me after, they got half a chance. You never been the quietest about your objections to my authority to begin with. Are we gonna have a problem, or should I wait for Zoe to straighten you out?”

“What makes you so sure Zoe won't side with me?”

Mal shrugged, “Oh, I ain't.”

“I'll bet that bothers you, doesn't it?”

He sounded right smug about that, so Mal took quite a great deal of joy in responding, “Not as much as it mighta before, gotta say. Great thing about what we are now, nothing bothers me quite so much.”

It was the truth, but that didn't mean he wasn't hoping against it happening. It'd be a damn shame to have to replace either of them, let alone both. Still, he figured there was nothing could be done but what he had, and now it was time to wait and see how it turned out. Zoe and Kaylee woke up at just about the same time a few hours later. In the interim, he'd resorted to leaving River watching Wash, who never would say whether or not he was gonna cause problems. 

He hadn't really thought much about Kaylee coming out different. He'd been most worried about Zoe, considering what had been said about repressed impulses – he didn't know anybody more controlled than Zoe. Strangely, he found his luck was holding out far better than it ever had when he'd been alive, both of them came through things fairly well. Kaylee didn't seem to have changed a jot, and was back whistling and working on the engine within an hour of getting up. Zoe seemed to be experiencing what he was – a sudden relief of burdens carried since the war. Truth to tell, it was a bit creepy to see her smiling and laughing quite so freely, but otherwise, she was much the same. Chided her husband for his contrariness with a smile, first off. 

Did cross his mind, of course, that Zoe was just smarter than Wash and she was fakin' until later. This whole undead thing did seem to come with a certain amount of paranoia and desire to be in charge. Although he did trust his crew, and they were used to relying on each other, so maybe it wouldn't be an issue. As much as anything, that was the reason he'd come back to the ship instead of heading off elsewhere. This was his ship and they were his crew, simple as that.

He gave 'em all pretty much the same short talk, no killing anybody, yes that included Jayne, and they'd figure the rest out later. It was a little worrisome that he hadn't figured out any good way to get rid of Inara that would keep the Guild from possibly coming after them, but there just hadn't been time to sort the problem. Neither Jayne nor Book would be nearly so much of a snarl if something happened to 'em while they were in space. 

They were ready to go at their scheduled takeoff time, and everything went, on the surface, like any other normal departure from a planet. Despite his uncertainty about Book, the Shepherd certainly didn't seem to catch on to anything being different, and neither did anyone else. His worries that the newly-turned would go after the remaining live members of the crew also managed to remain only worries through the first couple days of the trip without coming true.

When they got a chance to talk things over more in-depth, Zoe came down firmly on the side of leaving Jayne as he was. Mal could definitely see the sense in that. Jayne was handy to have around, but he would be far less dangerous to them all if he was left as a human, and quite frankly, if someone did slip up and kill him it wouldn't be such a loss. So that seemed to be fair decided. Might make things complicated so far as hiding what they were, but then again, Jayne wasn't really known for his curious nature. Like as not he may never even notice, as things that weren't immediately connected to weapons, whores, or quality food generally didn't interest him. 

Zoe likewise brought up a good point about the Shepherd. The man had a powerfully mysterious backstory that none of them knew. He chose to spend his time praying rather than fighting, but he had too much knowledge that had to do only with fighting. Were he to be relieved of whatever guilt had set him on his current path, who knew what he'd be inclined to do? Mal had to seriously doubt that it would involve following his orders, when he put any thought into it. Keeping him in the dark would be a seriously more tricky proposition, too, because the man was always poking about and taking an interest. 

Man was crew enough Mal felt that he should be magnanimous and let him off somewhere, so that night at dinner, he made a point of doing something towards getting rid of their remaining question marks.


	4. It Does Have Somewhere to Go

Sitting at the head of the table as dinner was in progress, Mal broke into the regular chatter of the crew. “So. I've got an announcement you all ought to be aware of. Inara here has made it clear she no longer wants to fly with us.” He paused for the gasps around the table, the loudest being from Inara herself. “Now, I been asking her for some time to make a decision about where she wants off and when to tell y'all, but she's been stalling, and I'm done waiting.”

“Mal!” Inara bit out his name with venom, but he only smirked. 

“Inara, you're leavin'?” Mal found it vaguely interesting that Kaylee sounded more angry than hurt. He figured that as a consequence of the change they'd all undergone. In which case, he figured he ought to step back in and move things along because even on Kaylee anger could be dangerous now.

“Now,” he pulled the crew's attention back from Inara's stuttered attempts to explain, as amusing as they were. “Far be it for us to get in the way of the plans of a member of the mighty Companion's Guild,” Inara made another noise of protest, but Mal's attention was for the rest of the table, to make sure they understood the point he was making. “But we've just taken a job Persephone way, which is the furthest into the Core we're gonna be for a long while, and I figure maybe it's time to nudge this little matter into the open.”

“Plus, way I figure it, that'd be the best place for us to look for another renter, so I reckon it's the best plan for everybody.” He didn’t have even the slightest inclination to rent out the shuttle to anyone, considering, but it was a good excuse to give Inara. Giving her a pointed look with an eyebrow raised, he took in her irritated expression.

“Mal, I wasn't ready to,” Inara started, giving him a hurt look. Too bad he didn't much care. If the Guild wasn't like to come looking for her, he'd drain her dry without a regret. Woman had made it clear she didn't have no want to be on his crew, and that was that.

“ You're leaving, right? So leave.” He put that certain push of belligerence into his tone that he knew drove the Companion nuts. 

“I – I don't understand where this is coming from.” Poor thing sounded like she was about to cry. How funny. Maybe Nandi had been right and she did actually have some feelings for him. Didn't matter though. Even if he still cared, couldn't risk making her one of 'em and weren't any place for her here as she was. 

“Don't see any confusion to be had, myownself.” Just as well that she quickly excused herself and took off towards her shuttle. The fact Kaylee wasn't getting at all upset about this argument on Inara's behalf was a dead giveaway that something wasn't quite right. 

He wouldn’t have heard it with his hearing as it had been before the change. Now though, the hitched sobbing noise as the Companion all but broke into a run as soon as she was out of sight of the kitchen were clearly audible. He couldn't quite help the chuckle that slipped out in response. 

Jayne hadn't particularly noticed, and most of the crew had gone back to pretending to enjoy their protein. Kaylee still looked angry, so he made a mental note to talk to her privately later. The exception was the Shepherd who looked quite appalled at the conversation that had just taken place. Apparently, he'd been so impressively rude the preacher was still trying to work his way up to finding the words to chide him for it. Shiny. Might as well push while he was already doing so well. “Figured on anywhere you'd like to settle in yourself, Shepherd?”

The man startled at being addressed. He regained his composure very quickly, though. “I've had a few thoughts on the matter, certainly. Am I being told to leave on Persephone as well, Captain?”

“Aw, Captain,” Kaylee pleaded. River, who was sitting next to the engineer, looked at him and shook her head no. Interesting, that. Well, in that case, maybe he shouldn't chase the preacher off after all. He gave the girl a questioning look indicating Book, and River nodded. He'd have to have a chat with her later.

“No, no,” he reassured the man. “I ain't kicking no one off here, preacher. Inara told me more'n three months ago she planned on leavin' first chance, 'cept we been through any number of planets since and she's prevaricated about the when on every one. Now, maybe I ain't so good at it, but I am trying to run a business here, and I'd prefer not to have the loss of rent income happen on some random backwater at a womanly whim and risk it causin' a real pickle in our finances.”

Nothing much more came of the conversation at the dinner table that night for a few days, aside from Inara taking meals in her shuttle. He did find a chance to talk to River, and she weighed in on the Shepherd, saying she thought he might be better for the change like he and Zoe had. He mentioned what Zoe had said, and she agreed it was possible, but crew was family and the Shepherd was one of them.

He wasn't sure how he felt on it. They both had a point, but he was a bit afraid River was dealing with an unhealthy amount of optimism. The change seemed to have done quite a bit to enhance her ability to deal with what the Alliance had done to her. They did have on their side that while River couldn't hear any of the crew as had turned, human-type minds were still wide open to her senses. If the preacher got too suspicious, they could always deal with it then.

…

She'd been sure that Kaylee would come and see her within the day, asking for some kind of explanation. Despite the expectation, Inara was very glad it didn't happen, because it took her more than a day to get her emotions back under the fierce control she had been trained to. A control which had been precariously harder to maintain the longer she stayed on _Serenity_.

Mal could be a complete ass, that wasn't new. It was never so viciously mean-spirited, though. He knew that she was having trouble with leaving and he'd been so understanding before, even though he had to be having as hard a time with it as she was. At least until that night. The thing that hurt the most was that he'd seemed almost amused at how upset she was. That wasn't like the man she knew at all. Though of all the men she'd ever met he always was the hardest to pin down. Every time she was sure she finally understood him, he managed to do something she didn't expect. 

She'd been able to convince herself for far too long that she was intrigued by him for only that reason. She'd been trained to read and predict people's reactions, and she never could understand his, so therefore he was interesting. It was a professional thing, she'd told herself. If she ever completely understood Mal, surely anybody else she could possibly meet would be easy by comparison. By the time they'd gone to help Nandi, she'd already realized that perhaps she was not just curious in such a detached way as she wanted to believe. Still, she hadn't figured it mattered. So what if she was attached to the crew? Nothing would ever come of it. And then she'd seen Mal leaving her friend's room in the early morning hours, halfway dressed, and all the air had been sucked out of the room. She'd never felt anything like that and never wanted to again.

It had only gotten worse when they'd returned to the ship afterward and he'd started awkwardly talking about feelings. Companions didn't fall in love, and they certainly didn't fall in love with destitute smugglers who got shot at far too often. There was no way anything between them could ever be more than a mistake. Yet she still, this much later, kept wanting him to protest her decision and ask her to stay. It had become clear that he wouldn't, and she was torn between being glad, sad, and angry at him for it, because if he did ask, she had no idea how she'd respond. 

Inara had been actively looking for other places she might settle, although nothing had appealed so far. She'd kept hanging on to _Serenity_ not really wanting to go, pathetically still half-hoping to be asked to stay. Then, out of nowhere, she'd been informed she was being kicked off the ship apropos of nothing. It hurt all over again that Mal was so eager to be rid of her that he couldn’t wait for her to decide. She never knew exactly where she stood with him, but had she read him that far wrong? The more she lingered in the shuttle and brooded over it, the more it irritated her. That only annoyed her more, that Mal could manage to get her so wound up without even being present. 

The fact that Kaylee didn't come to see her chafed, too. The mechanic was never hard to read, and her complete absence made Inara feel extremely guilty. How torn up would someone as happy and forgiving as Kaylee have to be to shun her like this? Needing to fix at least that relationship was finally enough to get her to leave her shuttle and face the crew again. 

What was even more disconcerting was that when she came back out and started interacting with them again, it wasn't just Kaylee. As soon as she found any of the crew and tried to strike up a conversation, they did their best to get away from her as soon as possible. The only exception was Shepherd Book who acted much the same as he always had. Kaylee, she could understand. The two of them were almost like sisters, and for Inara to have made plans to leave and said nothing for so long, she understood why the girl was upset. It was maybe a little less sympathy than she expected from her friend, but she could understand it. The rest, though, she didn't get at all. Wash and Zoe, River and Simon, they all liked her well enough, but they shouldn't be terribly upset at the idea of her leaving. And they didn't exactly act upset, just as if they couldn’t stand being in the same room with her all of a sudden.

The only thing she could figure, which still didn't make any sense, was that Mal had said something to turn them all against her for some reason. Perhaps for the same reason he'd decided suddenly that she needed to leave. Which meant the only thing for it was to confront the Captain. Maybe the inevitable shouting would help her feel a bit better. 

Having that confrontation also proved harder than she expected. Either he was already going out of his way to avoid her or he'd caught on to the fact she was looking for him, because she went up and down the ship several times without running into him across the length of a whole day. When she finally started asking the crew instead, and managed to get anyone to actually give her an answer, they said he was down in his bunk. She almost contemplated just waiting for dinner, but if this conversation went as badly as the last one, she didn't really want the whole crew listening in. Besides, Mal barged into her shuttle all the time. It would only be fair to return the discourtesy.

She'd only ever been down in the Captain's bunk that one time when Saffron had left her terrified he was dead. Afterward, recovering from the drug while the crew had broken back onto the bridge, she'd had plenty of time to look around – not that there was much there to look at. As she took in the space coming down the ladder, it was easy to see nothing had much changed in that regard. Plus, it was easier to look at the room than at the man in it, who had stood up off the bed and taken on a confrontational pose on the other side of the ladder.

Finally, she forced herself to bring her focus back to him and look him in the eyes, though it was immediately irritating because he had that stupid foul smirk on his face. The very one he had to know drove her mad, and so despite herself, her original plans to try and at least start off civil went immediately out the airlock. “What did you tell the crew after I left? They're all avoiding me!”

“And of course that must be my fault, somehow? It perhaps occur to you they didn't appreciate you having a secret plan to leave for months?” Again, Mal surprised her. Any other argument they had like this, he would have been yelling, but he only looked distantly amused. She thought he was infuriating before, but she should have known not to underestimate his ability to find new ways to piss her off. 

“Well, if you hadn't decided out of nowhere it was time to tell everyone, I was waiting until I found someplace to go!”

“Oh, _right_. 'Cause you were makin' such impressive progress on doing that.” He stepped forward further into her space, and continued, “Thing is, Inara, you made it clear we have a business relationship. As nothin' but your landlord, I don't take kindly to your giving notice and then deciding to hang about.”

“Mal, that's not fair. I just -”

She was cut off by him laughing in her face, which was yet again a new level of rudeness she didn't quite expect. As confused and angry as she was at the moment, it didn't help either that he was now standing so close. Far easier to know you shouldn't want something than to actually not want it.

Mal's laughter cut off abruptly and for the first time he looked something other than amused at her. She couldn't quite place the expression, but the tone when he spoke was clear enough. “Get out.”

“Oh, of course. It's perfectly okay for you to invade my shuttle whenever you want, but I come down here to try and talk to you once, and you get belligerent about it.”

The Companion watched the muscles in his jaw work as the Captain seemed to be trying to keep a hold of his temper. “Inara. You do not want to be here right now. You smell -”

“ _Excuse_ me? Fine, I'll leave. You don't have to be such a – _ge zhēn de hundan!_ ”

Before she got more than a step back towards the ladder, Mal's hand closed around her forearm in a bruisingly tight grip. He yanked her back against him, and of all the bizarre things, took a deep inhale against her neck. It was incredibly intimate, and yet even more thoroughly weird. “You smell _sick_. Real sick. Just how many secrets have you been keeping, woman?”

“I-I … how could you possibly know that? Mal, what is going on?” She should try to pull away again. Any time now would be good.

His voice was possibly the kindest she'd ever heard it, softly asking, “Inara, are you dyin'?”

Between being asked to say something she'd never admitted aloud to anyone and the fact that Mal was no longer hurting her arm but still holding her quite close, _ai ya_ , it took a moment to get her voice to cooperate enough to answer. “I've never – that is, yes. Yes, I was diagnosed over a year ago. It's a very rare genetic disorder that -”

She should probably be further annoyed at him shushing her, but she was shamelessly grateful for his cutting off the torrent of words she still didn't really want to say. Far more pleasant to just be here in this moment. Between the normally unassailable Captain initiating any kind of intimacy and the lifted weight of her own admission, Inara felt utterly unreal, like dreaming wide awake. 

“Well, now. I suppose that changes things more than a bit.” She had no idea what he meant by whispering that into her hair, but right at the moment it was hard to care about anything. Although a busy part of her brain couldn't help but wonder how he had known. The thought was finally pushed out of her head by the sensation of Mal's lips touching her neck, prompting an involuntary shiver. 

And then he bit her. Hard. Which pushed right through the hazy state she was in. It did no good to panic, however, because the arms closed around her in what had been an embrace were now an immovable hold that kept her struggles from accomplishing anything. It was terrifying and bewildering to feel her life draining away and still not understanding what was happening. It definitely felt real now, though.


	5. It Does All Work Out in the End, Maybe

After all the lectures he'd given the crew on the subject already, his own lack o' control was more than a mite embarrassing. Still, it wasn't like his plans had any kind of regular habit of coming off well. Now it was all a matter of waiting to see what Inara did when she woke up.

Maybe he shouldn't have done it. Some things had changed more'n words could express with this new state of being, while others hadn't, much as he might have wanted it so. As for instance, no matter how much he'd tried to put the Companion in the category of things he didn't care about anymore, as soon as he had smelled the truth of her actually reciprocatin' his interest he'd realized the lie of it. With what further revelations his new senses picked up about Inara, he hadn't even really thought before he'd acted. Weren't a matter of urges so much as the realization that he could fix it.

Now, he was back to remembering the potential consequences. No matter that she was the most self-possessed person he'd ever met, he didn't imagine she'd be able to go on Companionin' without issue. Even beyond the whole mandatory annual health checks part of the deal. He'd never understood it, but he did know that her job was a source of pride and identity to Inara and even adding the variable of not dying anymore to the table wasn't sure to balance out that loss in her mind. 

Weren't no point in worrying on it overmuch now, though. Done was done.

Mal took the precaution as he had with Simon of sticking close through the day and getting some stock from the infirmary's supply. While them being between planets made it a mite more likely that anyone might come looking, the only real worry was with Jayne or the Shepherd.  Neither of them was likely to seek him (or anyone else) in his bunk.  Knowing that didn't make the waiting any easier, though. Just as he was about to reach the point of serious impatience, Inara finally stirred. 

Her eyes were confused for only the barest moment at finding herself laid out on his bunk before she blinked and the expression was gone. He tried to get a read on what she was thinkin' after, but the gorram Companion Academy knew how to train a person out of showing those sorts of things all too well. Was more'n a bit unnerving to have her train that blank face on him right at this particular point in time. Just because none of the crew had turned up funny so far was no reason to go getting complacent. 

He stuttered something about the blood packs and dropped them at the foot of the bed, a bit embarrassed about being so discombobulated but still wary. No matter that he was sure now that she liked him more than a little, he also knew he had made her powerful annoyed more than a few times, too. Wouldn't say it was entirely impossible she might try and stake him or at least do him some damage, even if the change hadn't affected her overmuch. 

“So,” she began in a completely composed tone, “I suppose this must be why you were so eager to throw me off the ship on Persephone? Is the whole crew like this now?”

“All but Book and Jayne. Was pretty sure you wouldn't be safe as you were with us long-term, and didn't figure the Guild would be too accepting of the idea of a vampire Companion.”

“You couldn't have asked me what I wanted?” She suggested quietly, still not giving anything away.

He shrugged, a little annoyed. “Seems you made it more'n clear that you wanted to leave anyway. Didn't see the point, and beyond that? Didn't seem much like the kind of secret to share with someone on their way out.”

“You could have asked me to stay, at least.” There was a hint more of Inara behind that, a mix of suggestiveness and annoyance.

He smirked without any humor to it. As if that would have made any difference. He might have let it go the way he was before, but now? “I think we're both well aware you're the kind of woman knows your own mind, Inara. Nothing I said was gonna change a damn thing.” 

She got up off the bed, finally, arranging her skirts as she stood, and looking up at him through the fan of her eyelashes. Gorram wiles. “Maybe I was just good at pretending.”

Mal was half-tempted to back away as she moved closer. It was pretty plain she was messing with him, but hard to tell if it was just a variation on their usual or if he should be worried. Wouldn't do to let her know he was worried. “Well that's as may be. Couldn't just stand by after realizing you were dying though, so suppose it doesn't matter too much now.”

“No, no I suppose not.” She quirked a smile at him. It was more than a mite unnerving, seeing as he hadn't ever seen her make an expression quite like that before. Didn't have too long to ponder on it neither, as quicker than he could blink she'd grabbed him and was kissing him. Surprising as anything, but not remotely unwelcome.

…

He expected to get an askance look or six from the rest of the crew when he and Inara emerged from his bunk, but other than some muttering from Wash about him finally getting past being a _yúmèi máng lǘ_ which he pretended not to hear, no one commented.

Kaylee was obviously thrilled that Inara was staying on and that she was one of them now. Definitely no surprise in that. He didn't know what else Inara might have told Kaylee about things between the two of them, and didn't want to, neither.

The two of them had done some actual talking, and not all arguing either. Though that had figured in, too. Turned out that not having to save up for expensive medical treatments to stave off her condition did a lot to alleviate Inara's worries about giving up her occupation. Not that she didn't like being a Companion, she insisted he understand that. However, things between them had made doing her job increasingly awkward. With being a Companion such an integral part of her personal identity and having all those expenses, she'd made the only reasonable choice and decided she had to leave the situation behind. 

She'd smacked him pretty hard for the smug smile he'd gotten on his face when she told him she'd already been having second thoughts and worries that it wasn't going to be that easy. Now, without the disease and feeling less pressure from all the fears about the two of them, there was no reason to leave her family and her home. Although she playfully promised that he was going to regret making the choice for her. 

River kept insisting that they should keep the Shepherd on, and it wasn't too long before it got to the point where he was obviously suspicious that something was going on. Of course, he just suspected they were planning some kind of more heinous crime than usual and didn't want him aware. In the end, the girl turned him herself without waitin' for the others to make a final call one way or the other. It could have been a mistake, but they got lucky when it turned out she was right. Preacher came out the other side a much more content-seeming individual, and did he ever have a tale to tell about why he had all that strange knowledge of crime and the law. 

Despite how many things had changed, some hadn't and it was only sensible to expect this was too much good luck for them. Life or rather, unlife as it was now, went on. Some days were bad, others were good. Jayne never did catch on that anything was amiss with his crewmates until the next time Mal got shot. 

Strange enough that it didn't perturb the Captain terribly much, though his acting relatively unbothered by injuries wasn't exactly new. The part where Mal jumped the guy and bit him, well, even Jayne's impressive indifference to things that he didn't particularly care about was not able to overlook that one. 

The Captain had been sure that the big merc was going to be a problem one way or the other, but it wasn't actually true. Sure, he was more'n a bit put out to find out that the whole crew had been turned aside from him. Not to mention that he really truly hated finding out that the Doc could take him in a fight now. 

Mention of the incident over Ariel was still enough to keep him in line, despite all that, although there was a certain degree of increased grumbling and whining about bein' left out. By the time it happened that Jayne was the one got shot bad enough for it to be worrisome, there was no particular question left about turning him. 

Mal kinda figured maybe he'd been looking for miracles in all the wrong places when there wasn't any new trouble from the merc afterward either. Eventually, they'd likely run into trouble when their trustworthy contacts started noticing they weren't agin' any. Still, the tradeoff of making most of their enemies laughably easy to deal with, especially when they didn't much leave survivors, was worth a little future worry. 

Maybe they'd find out there was a whole other criminal world for folks like them out there somewhere. The fact that folks like them even existed had been hid well enough. They'd see, one way or the other. They had all the time in the 'Verse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: You know some days I feel like my writing has only two settings, fluff or everybody dies. Somehow, this turned out both? This is the end, I have absolutely no plans to follow up on this further. If anyone read this all the way through, I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
